Hampshire Counties One rugby: Electric Ellingham & Ringwood beat Trojans

Hampshire Counties One

Trojans RFC 32

Ellingham & Ringwood RFC 44

ELLINGHAM & Ringwood made the short journey to take on Eastleigh-based Trojans for a mid-table clash, avenging a loss the last time the two sides met with a 44-32 victory.

The win goes towards righting a narrow home loss from earlier in the season, continuing Ellingham’s unbeaten record in 2024.

Ellingham started well, with prop Adam Payne bundling his way over to score what would be an unconverted try.

E&R captain and scrum-half Sammy Veneroso then set off on one of his sniping runs, diving over to double the lead, with Chris Frost adding the extras.

Ellingham continued to play well, and in the 12th minute left winger Jack Kelly showed fine footballing skills, hacking the ball through, twice outpacing the home side’s defence before picking up and scoring under the posts, which Frost converted.

The home team woke from their malaise, and home full-back Joby Kochanowski dived over to reduce the deficit before fly-half Tugdual Long crossed over for their second try.

In the 34th minute, Frost extended the lead with a penalty after Trojans strayed offside.

Unfortunately, Frost blotted his copybook when he attempted an interception in the 40th minute, earning a yellow card when the referee felt he had deliberately knocked-on.

Despite being down to 14 men, Ellingham started the second half strongly, and prop Mike Treloar made a decisive break. The forward’s work allowed scrum-half Veneroso to grubber-kick the ball through the Trojans winger’s legs before racing clear and scoring.

In the 56th minute, Veneroso sealed a fine performance when he grabbed his third try to put Ellingham in a strong position.

However, the Trojans fought back, and their fly-half, Long, showed some good individual skill to score their third try, which he converted.

The prospect of a comeback was short-lived, as Ellingham front-rower Pat Fraser muscled over the line to extend Ellingham’s lead again.

Trojans star man Long dragged his side back into the game, completing a hat-trick of tries in a devastating spell of rugby in six minutes. The pick of the bunch was a delightful chip over E&R’s back line, which he collected and touched down.

With the Trojans pressing hard for a winning score, Ellingham‘ centre Chris Seaby ran from the halfway line and touched down under the posts. Frost added the conversion to give Ellingham a 44-32 bonus point victory and their first win away at Trojans for many years.